Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ¹ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ²  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ³  from deceitful and evil men! ⁴ 

Psalms 119:154

119:154 Fight for me ⁵  and defend me! ⁶ 

Revive me with your word!

Psalms 119:1

Psalm 119 ⁷ 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ⁸ 

who obey ⁹  the law of the Lord.

Psalms 24:1

Psalm 24 ¹⁰ 

A psalm of David.

24:1 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,

the world and all who live in it.

Proverbs 22:23

22:23 for the Lord will plead their case ¹¹ 

and will rob those who are robbing ¹²  them.

Proverbs 23:11

23:11 for their Protector ¹³  is strong;

he will plead their case against you. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 51:36

51:36 Therefore the Lord says,

“I will stand up for your cause.

I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. ¹⁵ 

I will dry up their sea.

I will make their springs run dry. ¹⁶ 

Lamentations 3:58

ר (Resh)

3:58 O Lord, ¹⁷  you championed ¹⁸  my cause, ¹⁹ 

you redeemed my life.

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ²⁰  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ²¹  he will defend my cause, ²² 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ²³  his deliverance. ²⁴ 

[43:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ² tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ³ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

[119:154]  ⁵ tn Or “argue my case.”

[119:154]  ⁶ tn Heb “and redeem me.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[119:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.

[119:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “walk in.”

[24:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.

[22:23]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses the verb יָרִיב (yariv) with its cognate accusative. It can mean “to strive,” but here it probably means “to argue a case, plead a case” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). How the Lord will do this is not specified – either through righteous people or by direct intervention.

[22:23]  ¹² tn The verb קָבַע (qava’, “to rob; to spoil; to plunder”) is used here in both places to reflect the principle of talionic justice. What the oppressors did to the poor will be turned back on them by the Lord.

[23:11]  ¹³ tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV).

[23:11]  ¹⁴ sn This is the tenth saying; once again there is a warning not to encroach on other people’s rights and property, especially the defenseless (see v. 10; 22:22-23, 28).

[51:36]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will avenge your vengeance [= I will take vengeance for you; the phrase involves a verb and a cognate accusative].” The meaning of the phrase has been spelled out in more readily understandable terms.

[51:36]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will dry up her [Babylon’s] sea and make her fountain dry.” “Their” has been substituted for “her” because “Babylonians” has been inserted in the previous clause and is easier to understand than the personification of Babylon = “her.”

[3:58]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) as in the following verse. See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:58]  ¹⁸ tn This verb, like others in this stanza, could be understood as a precative (“Plead”).

[3:58]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the causes of my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= me).

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ²² tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ²³ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “justice, vindication.”